Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society
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Ben Coolyn Farm Records, MS 154, Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society, Charlottesville, Virginia
Gift of Elizabeth Haden Smith, Charlottesville, Virginia
The Ben Coolyn plantation was originally owed by the James Clark family near Keswick, Virginia. Clark built the first dwelling in the early 1800s on a site east of the current home. The property was renamed "Fruitland" after it was purchased by James Hart in 1836. After Hart's death in 1870, the property was sold to a group of Englishmen for an agricultural experiment. When their experiment failed, "Fruitland" was sold to a partnership of S.A. Hart and A.P. Fox. In 1901 A.P. Fox sold the property to Llewellyn Pugh (1855-1932), a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana. Pugh rebuilt the house and reverted the property's name to Ben Coolyn. In 1917 he sold the property to William B. Bogert.
This collection is four volumes of Ben Coolyn farm records (1914-1917) during the ownership of Llewellyn Pugh.
From note included with the donation: "These books belonged to my grandfather Llewellyn Pugh who lived at Ben Coolyn at Keswick, Virginia. These farm records were kept by his farm manager." Elizabeth Haden Smith, Charlottesville, Virginia.